The Near Future

The origin of the melody predates Berlin's song. The distinctive four-note motif was used by Ludwig van Beethoven in his Sonata, Op. 10 No. 3, published in 1798. The motive is also used in Oh Happy Day, the earliest known printing of which is in The Wesleyan Sacred Harp from Boston in 1855 (although the words to Oh Happy Day can be traced even further back to 1755).[1] This melody is in turn attributed to English composer Edward F. Rimbault.[1]

The notes' positions in the major scale are 5 < 1 < 2 < 3 as numbered diatonically and 8 < 1 < 3 < 5 as numbered chromatically (e.g., G < C < D < E in C major, C < F < G < A in F major, and D < G < A < B in G major).Play 

The transition of the melody from a hymn to a song associated with drinking caused some confusion. In one example from 1931, courthouse chimes playing "Oh Happy Day" were thought by "respectable Minnesotans" to be playing "How Dry I Am."[2]

The term "Dry" in the lyrics means abstinence from alcohol. While the lyrics are often associated with Prohibition in America, the lyrics were written before 1920.

An early precursor to the lyrics was published in an 1874 edition of Gem of the West and Soldiers' Friend, a journal of curious miscellany. The passage describes a "sleeping car adventure" in which "one lady exclaimed in a slow and solemn voice, 'Oh, how dry I am" several times until someone brings her some water, after which "came the same solemn tones, 'Oh, how dry I was," much to the annoyance of the rest of the passengers on the train.[3]

The phrase "how dry I am" had become structured into song and referred specifically to drinking alcohol by at least 1898, as one journal describes a college drinking song that goes:

How dry I am, How dry I am!

God only knows How dry I am.[4]

When the State of Kansas passed a Prohibition law in 1917, which was signed by the governor on "the 23rd" [of February or March] the legislature greeted the event by singing "How Dry I Am." [5] This also strongly suggests that a song with these lyrics existed prior to Irving Berlin's treatment of the melody.

A 1919 book entitled Out and about: A Note-book of London in War-time describes a group of Americans drinking in London and singing "some excellent numbers of American marching-songs," including one described as "the anthem of the 'dry' States" whose lyrics were:

Nobody knows how dry I am, How dry I am, How dry I am.

You don't know how dry I am, How dry I am, How dry I am.

Nobody knows how dry I am, And nobody cares a damn.[6]

The 1921 musical comedy Up In The Clouds included a similar song entitled "How Dry I Am" with music by Tom A. Johnstone and words by Will B. Johnstone.[1]